Competition

Entries are now open for the 2018 Takahē Monica Taylor Poetry Prize. This year’s judge is outgoing poetry editor and current Randell Cottage Writer in Residence, poet, novelist, and short story writer, James Norcliffe. As begins his glittering poem, trapeze:

the thrill is in the possibility...

All poems entered are considered for publication, and for the winner we have a $250 prize and publication in takahē 94, our December print issue.

But the chance will be gone in a sequined flash (entries close Friday 31st August 2018).

Thanks to all of you who’ve entered our short story competition. Our judge, Eileen Merriman, is enjoying reading your writing.

To those still working on their stories, we’re looking forward to receiving them. Remember, there is no limit on the number of entries you can submit. For more information do look at our competition page and get writing!

We’re lucky enough to have Eileen Merriman judging the Takahē Short Story Competition 2017. Novels aside, her short fiction has been widely published and commended, and appears with prodigious frequency in the Sunday Star-Times Competition, among others. Of course we want to know exactly how she does it.

“The first draft is crap,” she said in a recent interview. It’s something she learned early on in her writing career. See? I told you we were lucky to have her. She knows exactly how much hard work will be going into all the entries to this year’s competition.

If you’re after inspiration for your Takahē entry, read Eileen’s second-placed Bath Flash Fiction Award story, This Is How They Drown. It’s unmissable for its summer-fresh prose and mastery of tension. And don’t miss Artichoke Tears right here in Takahē, for its innovative structure and enduring bittersweetness.

Or, if you’re brewing fresh coffee and stretching your back before launching into another draft before the November 30th deadline, take heart. As Eileen says, “Writing is like anything – you need to put in the hours.”

Thanks to those of you who’ve already submitted a story or two to our 2017 Short Story Competition. And to those of you who haven’t yet entered, a wonderful way to spend the coming weekend would be writing a winning story, or, if you have one that you prepared earlier, honing and editing it to make it your best ever. In other words get writing! I’m looking forward to an avalanche of entries in the coming weeks. You have until November 30th but why wait until the deadline? Look at our competition page for more information and you can find a story written by our judge, Eileen Merriman, in our current on-line issue.

Thanks to everyone who has recently sent stories to us. It was great to have such a good response to our call for submissions. Rachel and I have enjoyed reading them. But now we are in the process of deciding which ones to take for December, so anything that arrives after today (Thursday 14th Sep) will be considered for April 2018.

But not to worry if you’re about to complete a story which you were hoping to submit. Our short fiction competition is open! So do consider sending in an entry or, better still, entries for that. Someone has to win the competition, why not you?